One year after the global debut of the luxury sedan H600 at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, followed by the unveiling of the five-seater SUV K550 and seven seater SUV K750 at the 2017 Shanghai Motor Show, Pininfarina has presented the 2018 HK GT at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the fourth concept car conceived together with Hybrid Kinetic Group, a hopeful high-tech brand based in Hong Kong.
With the HK GT, Pininfarina interprets a classic architecture of the Italian automobile school, the Gran Turismo, while continuing to refine the identity and the formal language of the Hybrid Kinetic brand.
The concept has been developed on an aluminium chassis and the HK GT is 4980 mm long, 2000 mm wide and 1365 mm high while it has a wheelbase of 2975 mm. Front-rear weight distribution is 52%-48%.
The new concept has a 2+2 configuration entirely unveiled by the opening of gullwing doors. The GT is characterised by a long, sculpted bonnet and a slightly curved line that gently descends to the rear, so as to rest the pavilion on the car body, bringing it closer to the rear wheel as seen on the Gran Turismo cars of the past. The trend of this line is partially emphasised by a thin chrome moulding that flows from the front to the contour of the side glass surfaces, one of the stylistic features of the Hybrid Kinetic brand already embodied in the 2017 concepts.
The front view presents a new interpretation of the HK grille, in which the chromed slats open like petals up to frame the high-tech headlights.
The interior is designed to express, even when stationary, the driving pleasure that characterizes a high-performance Gran Turismo. Shapes, volumes, colours and materials are carefully chosen and contribute to the expression of modernity and distinction.
The light and floating dashboard is treated with a creamy white colour and with bright orange stitching and details. It departs from the minimalist equipment behind the steering wheel, and then extends towards the rear seats, which by contrast are covered with a grey leather with vintage treatment.
To transmit lightness to the passenger compartment, two stylistic solutions were adopted: the front seats are seemingly suspended from the central tunnel, while a part of the rear backrest is formed by a suspended wing that cancels the old separation between passenger compartment and boot, thus giving the interior a more spacious feeling .
There is also a very important detail for the HK brand: the new "HK texture", symbolic of the brand's aim of premium positioning. It starts from the rear seats and slopes down to reach the door panels.
But the HK GT is a car that aims to have a dual personality - race and Gran Turismo - and it is to underline this double soul of the car that the interior offers two different modes of experience: "race", for sports driving, and "cruise" for routes to be shared with the family.
In the "race" mode, the interior is dressed in red lighting. In order to allow the driver to concentrate on driving, the display behind the steering wheel (minimal cluster display) transmits only essential technical information, while the central setting display provides information on all driving parameters such as suspension settings, acceleration and speed track cornering.
Meanwhile, in the "cruise" mode, the interior is blue and offers a more comfortable mobility solution, with information sharing between all the passengers of the car.
On the dash board, in front of the passenger, a large touch screen appears with access to connectivity (navigation and e-mail) as well as entertainment while the door panels are animated thanks to a long interactive screen, which allows the circulation and exchange of information between the front and rear seats. The screen on the tunnel (central setting display) now allows passengers to configure the environment of the car (such as air conditioning and air quality) and becomes functional even for the rear seats.
The HK GT is equipped with 38 KWh of HK’s super batteries, 4 integrated PM motors with a combined power output of over 800KW, and a 2-speed transmission. This setup will allow the vehicle to reach a top speed of 350 km/h and accelerate from 0-100km in 2.7 seconds.
The torque vectoring system provides torque distribution to the four wheels which have their own motors for greater control and stability. In addition, the GT is also equipped with a regenerative braking system.
HK clean energy vehicles can be equipped with three different range extenders: a low - emission micro-turbine generator range extender which accepts a variety of fuels, a zero emission hydrogen fuel cell system range extender, or a highly efficient internal combustion engine range extender. Pininfarina claim it will travel 160 km on electric power and 1,000 km when using range extender.
Photos: Pininfarina HK GT
